Storage-battery indicator



P. M. MARKO. STORAGE BATTERY INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14, 1909.

964,994. Patented July 19, 1910.

-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL MAX MAB/KO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STORAGE-BATTERY INDICATOR Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicatioafiled December l l, 1909.

Patented July 1!), 1910. Serial No. 582,981. a

To all whom; it may concprn:

' Be it ltnown that I, PAUL Max Manito, a

' citizen of the Unitedfitates, and a resident -ar'y 4,1910, I provide a storage battery in which the voltmeter is permanently carried :by the casing of the battery and provided with such connections that. the circuit through the voltmeter may be closed upon the operation of a simple circuit closer. The 'i eajding obtained in the testing of a storage battery in the usual manner, is accurate, it the'battery be in operation at. the time the test is made, but if the battery is partly discharged and has been idle for some time, it is found that the voltmeter will show a vol- 'tagc in excess of the voltage of the battery. The object of my present invention is to provide for the testing of the battery when it is not in use, but by such means that the reading of the voltmeter will be accurate. In order to accomplish this, I provide a resistance arranged in parallel with the voltmeter, so that upon closing the circuit through the latter, the circuit will also be closed through'the resistance. This puts a loadon the battery which approximates the normal load on e battery when the battery is ;:in op.era n, and thus the reading on the'voltmetei will be substantially the same "as would be the reading were the batteryin operation at the time it was tested. My invention ispreferably applied to the storage battery shown in my prior patent above referred to, but it is evident that t is not necessarily limited to such construction. Reference is tobe had to the accompanying drz'twings, forn'iing a part of this specification, in which similar characters of refer;

ence indicate corresponding parts in both the figures, and 1n which Figure 1 is a perspective vlew of a storage ll)attf c iy casing having an indicator in one \v'til-l thereof; and Fig.2 is a vertical section through the upper portion of the battery my invention.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to the device disclosed in my previous patent above referred to, and this device includes a battery casing 10, having a top wall 11 covering a portion of the top, and having a hinged cover 12,-covering the remainder of the top. \Vithin the casing are a plurality of battery cells 13, preferably connected together in series and one having a positive terminal 11 extending through the stationcasing and illustrating one embodiment of ary portion 11 of the top wall, and another of the cells having a negative terminal-15 also extending through said'stationary por tion 11. Intermediate the two terminals, the top is provided with an opening into 'which' a voltmeter 16 is secured, with its outer or upper face substantially flush with the outer wall of the top. -\\'ithin another opening in the top wall, there isprovided a push button 17 of any 'suitable form. \Yires 18, 1.") and 20 connect the voltmeter and push button in series between the two terminals 14 and 15. The space beneath the stationary top wall 11 and above the cells 13, is filled with wax 21 or any'other suitable plastic insulating material, which will serve to insulate, conceal and protect the connections to the voltmeter and circuit closer. All of theseparts are substantially the same as shown .in my -previous patent and may be varied to any desired extent, both as to arrangement. and details of construction, without departing from the spirit of my resent invention,

lVrthm the wax 21 and preferably below the voltmeter, I provide a resistance connected by two wires 22 and 23 to the terminals 1 1, 15 and to the circuit closer 17 The resistance is preferably in the form of a small incandescent lamp 24,,inclosed within an asbestos sleeve or tube 25. The asbestos prevents the wax from being unduly heated or melted by the heat from the lamp, and also serves to protect the glass forming the bulb of the lamp, The wax holds the asbestos tube and the bulb in place, and also holdsin place the. wires leading to said bulb. In some instances I may omit .the asbestos tube entirely, as I preferably use a lamp of a considerablyhigher voltage than the voltage of-the battery; for instance, in a. three-cell battery adapted to deliver a six-volt current, I would use approximately the lamp,

a twenty-volt lamp so that the filament will not become highly heated but will merely glow. This does not heat the wax to any apreciable extent, particularly as the circuit 18 never closed through the.lamp save for a very short interval of time. The asbestos sleeve prevents any injury to the wax even thoughthe circuit be held closed for a considerable time. The lamp is in parallel with the voltmeter and'normally no current what ever flows through either the voltmeter or the lamp, either when the battery is in operation or when it' is standing idle. By closing the circuit at the push button, the current is permitted to flow not only through the voltmeter but also through The current flowing through the lamp approximates the current which normally flows when the battery is in operation, and thus the battery will be under conditions closely approximating normal working conditions when the circuit is closed through the push button. Thus, the reading onthe' voltmeter will be substantially the same as it would be if the battery were tested while it is in operation.

By means of my invention, I may secure ail-accurate determination of the voltage of the battery after said battery has been standing idle for some time. lvithout my improved construction, the reading under such circumstances,,- would normally be a great deal higher and give a false indication as to the voltage.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination, a storage battery cell having positive and negative terminals, a casing inclosing the cell, a shunt circuit permanently carried within the casing and connecting'said terminals, said shunt circuit including a single constant resistance equal ranged in parallel between to the normal .load on thebattery, and a normally open circuit closer, said resistance being in circuit only upon short circuiting the battery by the circuit closer during the testing of the strength of the battery, and a voltmeter arranged in parallel with the resistance. i v I 2. In combination, a storage battery cell having positive and negative terminals, a casing inclosing said cell, a voltmeter within the wall of said casing and having adial visible from the exterior thereof, a single constant resist-ance equaling the normal load on the battery and arranged within the easing and concealed from view and in parallel with said voltmeter, and connections be tween the terminals of said voltmeter and the terminals of said battery casing, one of said connections including a normally open circuit closer whereby the voltmeter and re sistance are normally out of circuit.

3. In combination, a storage battery cell having positive andneg'ative terminals, a casing inclosing the same, a voltmeter car ried by one-wall of said casing, a'constant resistancecqualing the normalload on the battery and disposed within said casing, said resistance comprising an incandescent lamp and an asbestos sleeve inclosing said lamp, said resistance and said voltmeter being an the cell, and the circuit through each being normally broken, said resistance and the connections thereto being supported and concealedby a filling of insulated material be tween the cell and said wall of the casing.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAUL MAX MARKO. Witnesses:

CLAIR N. FAIRBANK, JOHN P. DAVIS.

the terminals of 

